Vehicle-shield.



G. L. SMITH. VEHICLE SHIELD. APPLICATION FILED APR27. 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' 1,036,018.,A Patented Aug.20, 1912.

f v E IIIMMIIIWIWI G. L. SMITH.

VEHICLE SHIELD.

`APPLICATION. FILED APR. 27, 1911.

1,036,018. Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

GEORGE L. SMITH, OF WASHINGTON, yIDIS'IRIC'L OF COLUMBIA.

VEHICLE-SHIELD.

v Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

Application filed April 27, 1911. lSerial No. 623,633.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE L SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Shields; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to maltev and use. the same.

My invention relates to' the construction lof' ivind and rain, shields for vehicles and respect to the is particularly directed to the provision of a simple, strong, efficient and easily manipulated device of this character which is respecially suitable for use upon automobiles.

The principal feature of my invention, generally stated, consists in combining with the body of a motor vehicle a'wind defiector formed of a water 'proof'fabric or- 'other flexible material, one'end orf edge of said flexible defiectorl being' connected to the dash or vehicle body and the other end .or edge being adapted to be supported in raised or operative position yby means of supporting members which are movably mounted upon the vehicle body and serve, when the shield is in use, to maintain the upper end or edge of the-deflector in a vertically and laterally displaced position with lower end or edge thereof.

A further feature of my invention conin employing resilient frame members to support the wind deflector and inmovably mounting said members on the vehlcle body hy means of clamp devicesthe resilience of the frame members serving to prevent accidental movement of the latter' with respect to the clamp devices.

In the drawings chosen for the purpose of illustrating my invention, the scope whereof is pointed out in the claims, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wind shield embodying my invention shown as applied to a common form of automobile body, the parts being in the positions they occupy when the shield is in raised or operative position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the devices shown in Fig. 1, the wind shield being in lowered position; Fig, 3 is a front elevation of the devices illustrated in Figs. l and 2, the Wind shield being raised as in Flg. l: Fig. 4 is.

a detail view, partly in side elevation and V5 partly in section, showing one. of the devices employed for movably mounting the frame members of the wind shield on the vehicle body; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view illustrating a modified method vof attac-hing the defiector and side curtains to the supporting frame shown in the preceding views; Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view, taken on the line 6-6, Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modified form of wind shield embodying my invention, the shield being illustrated in raised position and shown as adapted to another well known form of automobilebody; Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a further modified form of wind shield embodying my invention, the device being shown in raised position and applied t'o another form of automobile body; Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view of one of the devices by which the frame members of the wind shields illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inelusive, and in Fig. 8 are movably mounted onthe vehicle body; Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are detail views in side elevation, verticalcen tral section and horizontal central section, respectively, of one of the devices whereby the form of wind shield shown in Fig. 7 is movably mounted on the vehicle body.

Like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur,

I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully, so that othersskilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the same.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, of the drawings, 1 is the dash of the vehicle body and 2 the Wind defiector, the latter being formed of flexible material which is preferably water proof. In order to readily attach the deflector 2 to the dash the latter, if its upper edge be not initially straight, is preferably built up to provide such a straight edge by securing an upwardly extending filler 1a thereto by means of straps or plates 1b which are screwed or bolted to the dash and filler, as more particularly shown in Fig. 3.

Secured to the upper outer ends of the dash filler are frame supporting members 3 that are formed with perforated lugs 3 through which the resilient, deflector supporting, frame members 4 are slidably and angularly movable and by which said frame memliiers are adapted to be flexed transvcrsely of their direction of length and thereby yieldingly clamped and maintained in raised or operative position, the axes'of the apertures 1n the lugs 3a being for this purpose inclined to the general direction of sliding, turning movement of the resilient frame members 4 so that said members automatically bind in or .are clamped bythe llugs 3a, as shown in Fig. 4, when the wind shleld is in raised position.

The lower end or edge of the deflector 2 is preferably secured to the body. of the vehicle through the intervention of an lordinary curtain roller or spring roller 5Which is journaled in the frame supporting and guiding members 3 in such manner as to permit the deflector to roll upon it when the shield is lowered; but, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the lower end of the deflector 2, if desired, may be directly connected to the dash or body of the vehicle. The upper end of the deflector is attached to the transversely extending stretcher bar 6 of the frame, a convenient means of attachment being to form a hem or pocket at this end of the deflector for thle reception of the stretcher bar.

The resilient yframe members 4, which, as shown, are preferably curved, may be conveniently connected to the stretcher bar 6 Vby forming at their upperl ends eyes which are adapted to receive Vthe stretcher bar, these parts being thusloosely connected. The frame members 7, which may be simi.- larly connected to the stretcher bar at A their upper ends and are also preferably curved, are mounted upon the body of the vehicle so-as to be movable with respect thereto, the clamp devices 8 by which suchI frame members 7 are mounted upon the body being preferably of a character which will permit said frame members not only t-o pivot thereon'but to be capable of a slid.- ing movement as Well. The preferred form of these clamp devices 8 comprises a body portion 8a having oppositely disposed curved locking flanges 8b which are formed` with Serrat-ions or undulations that are adapted to receive the resilient frame members 7, the body portion 8a being provided with perforated lugs 8c forming means whereby the clamp may bepattached to t-hevehicle and being also formed with a central aperture which is adapted to permit the passage of the threaded stem of a clip or eye bolt 81 through which the frame member 7 extends, a nut Se being employed to place the frame member under sufficient strain to clamp it in the4 undulations of 'the locking ianges 8 firmly enough to prevent vit from accidentally rotating or sliding when the shield is in service. Inv order to permit the frame membersl 7 to readily slide through their respective clamp devices 8 when it is desired to change the height of the stretcher bar end of the defiector 2, one of the undulations 8f on each of the locking flanges 8b of the clamps is preferably somewhat deeper than the others, .the deeper undulations of each clamp being arranged opposite eachother so that the frame members 7 when rotated on their bolts 8d to proper position may be easily adjusted up or down to fthe desired height, as will be readily understood.

For the better protection of the occupants of the vehicle flexible side curtains may be employed, as shown more particularly in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. If, as shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3, a spring roller 5 is used, the side curtains 9, which are permanently attached at their front and rear edges, respectively, to the dashboard and the frame members 7, should be detachably connected to the lateral edges of the deflector 2 so as to permit the latter to roll'uponthe roller 5 when the frame is moved to lowered position as shown in Fig. 2. The detachable connection between the deflector 2 and flexible side curtains 9 may be conveniently eected by means of ordinary snap fastenings placed at -intervals as indicated at 10. If it is desired to employ side curtains Without employing a spring roller 5, the deflector and side curtains may be formed in a single piece 11 as shown in Fig. 5, the front edges of the side curtains and deiector lbeing directly connected to the dash of the vehicle and the members 4, 6 and 7 of the shield supporting frame being sheathed in suitable hems formed in the deflec'tor and side curtains;

Fig. 7 of the drawings illustratesa modified form of construction in which the brace rods 4 shown in the structure heretofore described are omitted. In this form of construction the flexible deflector 12 is connected to a support-ing frame which consists of a pair of similarly curved resilient frame members 13 which are connected at their vupper ends by a transversely extending to the body of the vehicle by means of clamp devices 15 which may be secured to the opposite ends of the dash 1G. These clamps 15 are precisely identical inform and function with the clamp devices 8 heretofore described, except that attaching lugs 15 suitable for connection to the verticallyextending dash 16 are substituted for the attaching lugs 8c of the clamp 8. Vhen the wind ioo shield is lowered the frame members 13 slide through the clamps 15 and assume positions at the side of the body of the vehicle,

as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7.

lnthe modified form of construction illustrated in Fig. 8 -the brace rods 4 are likewise omitted and the supporting frame comprises resilient parallel curved frame members 17 which at their lower ends are slidably and pivotally connected to the body of the vehicle preferably by clamps 8 such as heretofore described. The upper ends of the frame members 17 are3 connected by a stretcher bar 18 Which extends transversely of the vehicle as shown in the principal iigures of the drawings, the ilexible-deflector 19 being connected at its upper end to thestretcher bar and being attached at its lower end to the dash 20 ofthe vehicle. When the Wind shield is not in use the frame members 17 thereof will occupy positions at the side of the body ot the vehicle as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

1. In a device of the vcharacter indicated the combination with the body of a vehicle, of a flexible deflector connected thereto, frame members movably mounted upon the body of the vehicle and connected to said delector, means for slidably and pivotally connecting said frame members to the vehicle, and means operative by a pivotal movement of the frame members for yieldingly restraining pivotal and sliding movements of said frame members With respect to the vehicle body, the upper ends of said frame members being movable vertically and laterally toward and from the lower end of the deflector and said frame members being slidable through their 'respective points of pivotal connection to the vehicle.

2. In a device of the character indicated, the combination With the body of a vehicle, of a. flexible delector connected thereto, Jframe members slidably and rotatably mounted upon the body of the vehicle and connected `vto said' detlector, and means operated by the movement of the frame mem-l bers for retaining the saidoframe members in fixed position with respect to the'veh1cle body, said frame members being pivotally -connected to said, vehicle body by said retaining means andbeing slidable through said retaining means.

3. In a device of the character indicated,

, the combination'with the body of the vehicle, of a delector, resilient frame members rotatably mounted upon the vehicle body and connected to the deflector, and clamp devices mount-ed on the vehicle body and trictionally engaging said resilient frame members, said clamp devices constituting means for flexing the frame members upon a rotatory movement of said frame members with respect to the vehicle body.'

4. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with `the body of a vehicle, of a flexible dedector connected thereto, resilient frame members movably mounted upon the vehicle body and connected to said deiiector, and means for retaining the said frame members in xed position With respcct to the vehicle body, said means including devices operating to vary the flexure of the resilient frame members upon a change in the angular positions of said frame members with respect to the Vehicle body.

5. In ay device of the character indicated, the combination with the body of a vehicle,

of a flexible deflector, resilient frame memmounted on the vehicle body 4and engaging the resilient frame members to yieldingly maintain said frame members in fixed position, said clamp devices being provided with means for flexingV said resilient frame members upon an angular movement of the latter.

' 7. In a device of the character indicated, the combination With'the body of a vehicle, of a lexible delector connected thereto, resilientv frame members movably mounted upon the vehicle body and connected tothe deiector, and clamp devices mounted on the vehicle body and pivotally connecting said frame members to said vehicle body, said clamp devices being provided with serrated locking flanges engaging their respective frame members and being also provided with means for flexing said frame-members transversely Iof their direction of length, and said frame members being slidable through said clamps.

8. In a device of the character indicated, the combination With the body of a vehicle, of a roller secured thereto, a flexible deflector mounted thereon, a stretcher bar connected to said detlector, resilient frame members connected to said stretcher bar and slidable and angularly movable with respect to the vehicle body, frame members connected to said stretcher bar and pivotally movable with respect to the vehicle body, and clamp devices for flexing said resilient trame members transversely of their direction of length upon an angular movement thereof with respect to the clamp devices, said resilient frame members being simultaneously slidable and angularly movable With respect to said clamp devices, and said clamp devices constituting means for yieldingly retaining said resilient frame members in fixed position.

9, In a device of the character indicated, the combination with the bodyV of a vehicle, of clamp devices, a flexible deflector connected to said vehicle body, a stretcher bar connected to said del'lector, resilient Vframe members connected to said stretcher bar and body, resilient frame members engaging said 20 members, said clamp devices engaging the maintaining said resilient frame members in 25 corresponding resilient frame members and iXed position, said means including said constituting means for fiexing Said resilient clamp devices, and said clamp devices being ,'members transversely of their direction of adapted to flex said frame members translength and forfyieldingly retaining them in versely of their direction of length upon an fixed position with respectto the vehicleA angular movement of the latter with respect 30*l slidably and angularly movable with respect to said clamp devices, frame members connected to said stretcher bar and pivotally movable with respect to the vehicle body, and side curtains movable with said frame body.

10. In a device of the character indicated,

the combination'with the body of a vehicle,

of a roller extending transversely thereof, nieans on which said roller' is journaled for clamp devices and slidably and angularly movable with respect thereto, a stretcher bar connecting said resilient frame members and said deector, and means for yieldingly to the vehicle body. l v

In` testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGEl L. SMITH.

a mounting said roller on the vehicle body, a Witnesses: v

fiexible deflector mounted on said roller,` THOMAS DURANT, clamp devices connected to said vehicle Gr.l P. RITTER. 

